Sneak a Peek at the Flood Map Presentation Being Given to Trinity River Property Owners

As you may recall, the city sent word last month that it needed to meet with Trinity River property owners to discuss those revised Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps, due to debut in February before the final ones are drawn up in December 2011 and go into effect in June 2012. West-siders who may see their flood-insurance rates go up, up, up began their meetings this month; east-siders won't get their talking-to till January. This morning (as in, right now), the council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee gets a look at the PowerPoint that's on display at those sit-downs. It's right here.

The doc's full of interesting tidbits -- like, say, the levee reconstruction and remapping time line on Page 18, and the note that in June of this year FEMA revised its insurance rules to keep prices down: "The policy revision allows property owners to maintain lower flood insurance rates for the first two years after new maps become effective." But what you see above is the thing in which Schutze has become particularly interested -- he was wondering yesterday where that $150 mil's coming from, exactly. And does the city, which has grown frustrated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, really think that sinking cut-off walls will cost that little? "Laughable" is the word Jim kept using. Only, he wasn't laughing.